Improvement in distilling o



UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICIL S'LLOYD WIEGAND, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IM PRDVEMENT IN DlSTlLLlNG OfLS AND PARAFFINE FROM PEAT AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.

Specification forming part of Letters-Patent No. 39,607, dated August 18, 1863.,

To all whom it may concern: r Be it known that I, S. LLOYD WIEGAND, of the city of Philadelphia, and of the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inthe Process of Obtaining Oils from Peat and other Bituminous. Substances, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof. The nature of this invention consists in the use ,or employment of the gaseous products resulting from the decomposition of steam by carbon heated to incandescence circulating through the bituminous material in a retort which is ata temperature lower than would otherwise be requisite to distill the hydrocarbon vapors from such material. a

To enable others skilled in the art to use this prlocess, I will now proceed to describe it more to y.

I fill a retort heated to bright redness with carbon, (oak-charcoal I have found best for the purpose, but other forms of carbon will answer.) Through this retort I pass a small quantity of steam with a continuous flow and connect the outlet of this retort with the inlet of asecond retort, which contains the peat or bituminouscoal,andisheated nearlybutnotquite enough'to vaporize the oils contained therein. The gases generated in the first retort pass through the bituminous matter in the second retort, and, escaping from the outlet of the secl distilling in this mannera larger yield of hydrocarbon oils and paraffine' is obtained than by the use of heat alone applied to the second retort.

I am aware currents of air deoxidized by the combustion, therein of carbon have been applied to-facilitate the separation of hydrocarparaffine from peat or-coal or other bitumin ous substances, whether used by themselves or in combination with superheated steam.

S. LLOYD WIEGAND. V

Witnesses:

EDM. E. BROWN, E. W; W. GRIFFIN. 

